D&D 5E Archetype-Multiclass option initial concept

[DND_Reborn]

Thank you for the thorough review

No problem. Hope it helps and good luck!

 

[FrogReaver]

I'm a huge fan of point-buy/a la carte chargen systems. It would require a lot of work of course but I believe that it would work fairly well with the 5E core mechanic and balance.

That said, I try to keep potential publishing in mind while I design and generic classes is too far of a departure from core D&D. It also brings up a lot of unforseen and cascading issues that need to be addressed.

I wanted to elaborate on why I dislike such systems.

I believe ability combinations can be more than the sum of their parts. An a la carte chargen system fails to establish balancing/prohibitive costs for synergistic effects. The class systems can account for the synergestic effects in pricing. There's also the anti-synergistic effects, where having one ability means there is little need for a different ability that similar but slightly different (at least not at full price).

Anyways, the point is that balance in such systems is pretty much unachievable.

That's why I dislike them.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I wanted to elaborate on why I dislike such systems.

I believe ability combinations can be more than the sum of their parts. An a la carte chargen system fails to establish balancing/prohibitive costs for synergistic effects. The class systems can account for the synergestic effects in pricing. There's also the anti-synergistic effects, where having one ability means there is little need for a different ability that similar but slightly different (at least not at full price).

Anyways, the point is that balance in such systems is pretty much unachievable.

That's why I dislike them.

I don't mind a la carte systems, but they are very difficult to balance well (it is possible and some of my favorite RPGs are a la carte games). I agree that you often have certain things that typically become must haves.

 

[FrogReaver]

I don't mind a la carte systems, but they are very difficult to balance well (it is possible and some of my favorite RPGs are a la carte games). I agree that you often have certain things that typically become must haves.

I don’t conclude there isn’t a balanced one. I’ve never seen one though. By the way, must haves by necessity indicate imbalance on the a la cartel system

 

[DND_Reborn]

I don’t conclude there isn’t a balanced one. I’ve never seen one though. By the way, must haves by necessity indicate imbalance on the a la cartel system

I always found Vamprie and Shadowrun to both be very well balanced (at least the editions I played 15-20 years ago...). Maybe you don't consider them a la carte?

 

[GlassJaw]

I don’t conclude there isn’t a balanced one. I’ve never seen one though. By the way, must haves by necessity indicate imbalance on the a la cartel system

I will absolutely agree that wholesale point-buy/a la carte systems are very difficult to design and balance. That said, some of my favorite systems are exactly that (Savage Worlds, Mayfair DC Heroes, WEG d6 Star Wars, even some incarnations of Shadowrun).

However, there are a LOT of ways to balance such systems. In addition, a la carte systems don't have to be all or nothing.

I actually prefer a hybrid (at least for D&D): base classes with "hard-coded" abilities alongside an a la carte system that allows for customization. This is basically what D&D has been since 3ed, with varying degrees of "a la carteness" (3E and 4E had a lot, 5E has dialed it back some).

Right now, I think my preferred system would be 5E's core (bounded accuracy, overall power level, 3-pillar design, old-school sentimentality, etc) but with some of 4E's level of customization and tightness. 4E was way too dry but it did a really good job of standardizing the character progression, which in turn makes it easier to balance the a la carte options. Again, they went too far because the classes ended up feeling very homogenized, and 5E has swung the pendulum in the other direction (in a good way).